[David C]

Roscoe3rd
as a tube newbe I would like to to see a topic on EE DAC tube rolling so I support

[Cyan]

Any chance to see this dac with headphone amp integrated?

[Bill O'Connell]

Cyan,

 Not at the moment. sorry.



 Bill

[JDarby - Stereomojo.com]

Hi guys.

Just got the EE DAC from Bill yesterday for review. I googled the DAC to find out more info on it and saw this thread. I didn't know it was so "hot", but since it is I'm going to fast track the review.

While I can't break my own rule and post the outcome of any review anywhere, (besides right now it's an incoming, not an outcome). I wish some of you would write us when you find something you think is a real gem - you guys are the best at it on the planet, I think. We will jump on it. It's always interesting when we contact a company and tell them we've had a number of requests for reviews of their product.

I think i can say that i was more than a little surprised at how good it sounded right out of the box. It's a new unit with no hours on it, but it did not have the usual grain and congestion of pre-burned-in units. I did subject it to 4 hours of burn in (non listening) using various burn-in tracks and 24/192 music. Linda and I started at about 9 PM last night and ended up at 1 AM. I'm anxious to hear what this sounds like with 100 or so hours on it. It's also playing right now. The DAC is substituted for is the PS Audio Perfect Wave at the moment.

Have you guys found what the ideal burn in time is? There's nothing about it in the manual. (We actually DO read the manuals before we set stuff up).

I read some of the posts, but i didn't want to read TOO many so as to not color my impressions. Has there been any kind of consensus of what the favorite tube to roll into it is? I'll try to find one or two of the favs here.

Thanks everyone. I appreciate what you  guys do for the audio community!

JD

[satfrat]

From my april 3 demo'ing period:
 
 

This Dac and it's tube are on loan but I'm sure it's owner is reading this thread, that's the the recommendation Joe.    It's been hit/miss with the 2 Siemens tubes I have on hand. But this Siemens E82CC CV4003 is simply blowing me away.    It has all the atttributes of the Mullard but it's clearer, more balanced with sparkling highs and a nice taut bass, and it still retains the Mullard's 3D sound stage depth. I've had it playing 13 hours now I'm going to be hard pressed to shut her down when the NCAA Tourney starts at 6pm.    This EE Dac has been a pleasure to demo. 
 
Oh, did I mention I'm using Joe's Kaplan power cord to good effect on the EE dac? I'll be returning it to you April 24 at Emil's RAVE. 
 
Cheers,
Robin

[Audioclyde]

I just got the EE DAC in yesterday, so its got just under 24 hours on it.  Right now I'm running with a Siemens ecc82 (not the silver plate).

Hooked up to my 300B SET amp and DA-RMa spkrs, this little guy is making quite a positive impression on me!

My thought was that the EE would likely find its way into my wife's/bedroom system, but its showing lots of promise...... !

[doctorcilantro]

I just got the EE DAC in yesterday, so its got just under 24 hours on it.  Right now I'm running with a Siemens ecc82 (not the silver plate).

Hooked up to my 300B SET amp and DA-RMa spkrs, this little guy is making quite a positive impression on me!

My thought was that the EE would likely find its way into my wife's/bedroom system, but its showing lots of promise...... !

Good news. So is the DAC still in your main system?

[Audioclyde]

Hi DC,

Yep, still in the main system for now; right at 200 hours on it now, so should be pretty well burned in.  I'm still very impressed with it; presentation is different than the MW Transporter......the MW may be a bit, and I mean a tiny bit, smoother, but in my system the EE has better bass extension, more detail (maybe why the MW Transporter sounds 'smoother') and a taller soundstage......I haven't even tried the USB input yet, I'm feeding its bnc input from my JKeny box modded HiFace.

Best,

Randy

[doctorcilantro]

Randy - have you tossed in the E80CC yet if it was ultimately approved by Alex or Bill?

Now that you have some hours on the unit, I'm excited to see if this roll has a noticeable impact.

j

[mfsoa]

Hi Bill,
This is maybe a strange question (I don't have an EE DAC yet, but hope to in a few weeks)

I had tried some La Radiotechnique 12AU7s in my preamp and really liked the sound, until the 12AX7s that come after it in the circuit started failing. Thinking it was the 12AX7s, I swapped a few different ones in there and they kept failing. I replaced the Radiotechniques and have had no problems with the 12AX7s since, so I assume it was the Radiotechs that were frying the 12AX7s over time.

Question - If a tube that is slightly out-of-spec (or even "bad") is used in the EE dac, is there anything downstream of the tube that could be fried?

I'd like to try the Radiotechs in my future EE dac and would like some guidance as the fry-ability of downstream components.

Thanks

-Mike

[Audioclyde]

Randy - have you tossed in the E80CC yet if it was ultimately approved by Alex or Bill?

Now that you have some hours on the unit, I'm excited to see if this roll has a noticeable impact.

j

I rolled the philips miniwatt ecc80 into the dac (Bill and others have really liked the Valvo ecc80 as I recall); frankly I didn't like the sound--it lost its soul and became more electronic/hifi to me....I left it in overnight and listened more the next day, but didn't hear any noticeable improvement, so haven't had it back in the dac for a few days.

[Levi]

The EE Dac sounds truly good using the USB input straight from the computer.  Its' USB input along with the tube buffer sounds much better than my PS Audio DAC.  EE DAC owners should try the USB input.  It is sweet!

[Big Red Machine]

The EE Dac sounds truly good using the USB input straight from the computer.  Its' USB input along with the tube buffer sounds much better than my PS Audio DAC.  EE DAC owners should try the USB input.  It is sweet!

Can it accept hi rez and handle it?

[Wayne1]

The USB input on the EE DAC is NOT as good as just the coax input. It does run through a PCM2706 chip first, before it gets to the Sabre chip. This will limit you to 16 bits @ 48kHz. Dynamic range, channel separation and distortion all would not be as good as the coax input.

[Levi]

That's how I run my MacBook Pro at 16/48kHz.  I don't have Hi Resolution files. 

Needless to say, I am happy with it when I compared it to my PS Audio DAC III via USB.   

[Gopher]

The USB input on the EE DAC is NOT as good as just the coax input. It does run through a PCM2706 chip first, before it gets to the Sabre chip. This will limit you to 16 bits @ 48kHz. Dynamic range, channel separation and distortion all would not be as good as the coax input.

+1   Its a very nice feature having the usb input capability, but coax or AES/EBU or even optical sound better. 

On a side note, has anyone else found this dac to be pretty sensitive to coax cables?  I didn't expect to hear as much of a difference between them as I can given the Sabre32 dac.

[Bill O'Connell]

Hi Bill,
This is maybe a strange question (I don't have an EE DAC yet, but hope to in a few weeks)

I had tried some La Radiotechnique 12AU7s in my preamp and really liked the sound, until the 12AX7s that come after it in the circuit started failing. Thinking it was the 12AX7s, I swapped a few different ones in there and they kept failing. I replaced the Radiotechniques and have had no problems with the 12AX7s since, so I assume it was the Radiotechs that were frying the 12AX7s over time.

Question - If a tube that is slightly out-of-spec (or even "bad") is used in the EE dac, is there anything downstream of the tube that could be fried?

I'd like to try the Radiotechs in my future EE dac and would like some guidance as the fry-ability of downstream components.

Thanks

-Mike

HI Mike,
 I just can't imagine why you would even try to use a possible (out of spec) or possible bad tube in the DAC. Your preamp would do its thing while the amplifier would amplify your bad tube right into your speakers. A sure recipe for disaster.
 I always like to try to use matched halves in tubes as this way both channels see the same matched signal from the tube(speaking dual triode/12au7's)

Later,
 Bill

[Bill O'Connell]

I rolled the philips miniwatt ecc80 into the dac (Bill and others have really liked the Valvo ecc80 as I recall); frankly I didn't like the sound--it lost its soul and became more electronic/hifi to me....I left it in overnight and listened more the next day, but didn't hear any noticeable improvement, so haven't had it back in the dac for a few days.

    I'm fairly certain your mention of the E80CC as a ECC80 was just a slight recollection mistake.
 I'm not sure what the ECC80 tube is so do not use this tube.
The E80CC on the other hand is a substitute you can use in the DAC. My preferred vintage of this tube is the pinched waist D getter wire version. Very dynamic grunt low sound with fleshy midrange but the highs can be a little etchy.  As always system dependent whether or not it is your cup of tea for tube substitution in the MiniMax DAC.

Have a great weekend,
 Bill

[Audioclyde]

You are right Bill; I transposed the numbers. I received a pair of Valvo red label gold pin E80cc's yesterday and I've only listened to it a bit but it is definitely promising.

I continue to be very impressed with the EE DAC!

Thanks,

Randy

[mfsoa]

Hi Bill,

Do you have units in stock?  My trigger finger is gettin' twitchy.

If not next shipment is expected when?

Thanks

-Mike